Tell me what to say, please...

[Colleens_Husband]

I'm not sure how relevant this is, but I find it amusing so here it goes.

When I had Guillain-Barre' Syndrome (pronounced geeyun baray, it's important, really) I was receiving a medicine called IVIG which is just awfully expensive. After putting $25,000 dollars worth of IVIG into my veins, the insurance dunderheads phoned the doctor and asked them to stop IVIG treatments and use an alternate treatment called plasma pherises. Plasma pherises removes all blood plasma from your bady and replaces it with someone else's plasma. This would remove the $25,000 of IVIG that was already in my system and working superbly against the Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. The doctor phoned and tried to get the insurance ninny to change their mind and got nowhere.

I phoned the insurance company and started to talk to their "expert" on the subject. The person on the phone looked up my records and said, "I see you have Gillian Bar Syndrome'.

I asked, "Are you familiar with the syndrome?" And she answered, "I am the company expert on the syndrome."

I said "Now that is scary!"

"Why is that?" she asked?

"Because it's pronounced 'Geeyun Baray' you mountebank!"

(A short parenthetical note, I have no idea what a mountebank is, I saw it in a Tin Tin cartoon book and it sounded real bad and I'm not above using a little bit of bluster when it come to matters of my health. Get the medicine first and repent later.)

Anyways, after that, the insurance company just gave up and paid everything my doctors, physical therapists, or I asked of them.

So what does this mean? Well it could mean that the panel of experts could consist of the mountebank, a janitor, and an accountant named 'Bob' who works in the basement, uses a pocket protector, and hasn't had a date since 1982 when he asked his cousin to the prom.

You just need to convince one person to get the Herceptin.

Lee

[Mary Anne in TX]

Oh, Lee, I love that plan of action. If nothing else, it's so charming! I would have loved to see her shake in her chair! But I do get the message. They decide on something they know so little about!!! that goes well with Bill's notion of writing it down and being very detailed. More ammunition to add to my arsenal! I feel the fire burning brighter! Thanks, ma

[Bill]

Ma, you just keep gathering ammo. for the fight. You will get that Vitamin H! Forgot to mention earlier, some one said that sometimes the pharm. companies will provide meds. for free as a goodwill gesture and a PR thing. That's true. Nicola was denied Xeloda by our insurance company many times, so with the assistance of an awesome reasearch NP, we contacted Roche (I think) and while we were appealing the "turn-downs" by the ins. company, we submitted documents, phone-called, etc. and the pharm. company was going to provide the Xeloda to Nikki for free. It was awesome. The people we dealt with were wonderful. Then the insurance company finally approved the Xeloda (We'd been buying it out-of-pocket for Nikki at 120 bucks a day for almost a week-scary numbers) and when we contacted the pharm. co. they really, really wanted to make sure that the ins. co. was going to cover it, before they halted the "donation" process. Ma, maybe you can contact the comp. that makes herceptin and try to work a similar deal at the same time you are fighting your ins. company. Stay strong, Ma! We love ya!

[StephN]

"MOUNTEBANK" is the perfect word for this case!

Colleen's husband got it right!

From Wikipedia (keep reading - you will see how it all ties together):

For other uses, see Charlatan (disambiguation).
"Mountebanks" redirects here. For the comic opera, see The Mountebanks.
"Swindler" redirects here. For other uses, see Swindler (disambiguation).


Look up charlatan, shyster in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


Pietro Longhi: The Charlatan, 1757


A charlatan (also called swindler) is a person practising quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form of pretence or deception.
The word comes from French charlatan, a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The most well known of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin who set up a stage in the Place Dauphin, Paris in 1618, and whose commedia dell'arte inspired skits and whose farces inspired Molière. Ultimately, etymologists trace "charlatan" from either the Italian ciarlare, to prattle; or from Cerretano, a resident of Cerreto, a village in Umbria, known for its quacks.[1]
In usage, a subtle difference is drawn between the charlatan and other kinds of confidence people. The charlatan is usually a salesperson. He does not try to create a personal relationship with his marks, or set up an elaborate hoax using roleplaying. Rather, the person called a charlatan is being accused of resorting to quackery, pseudoscience, or some knowingly employed bogus means of impressing people in order to swindle his victims by selling them worthless nostrums and similar goods or services that will not deliver on the promises made for them. The word calls forth the image of an old-time medicine show operator, who has long left town by the time the people who bought his snake oil tonic realize that it does not perform as advertised.
In reported spiritual communications, a charlatan is a person who fakes evidence that a spirit is "making contact" with the medium and seekers. This has been challenged successfully by skeptics who wrote passwords and gave them to people of trust, containing a password that should be spoken by the person if he ever tried to make contact, to validate the truth of the claim. No such claim has been verified. For example, Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato and magician Houdini.
Synonyms for "charlatan" include "mountebank", "shyster", and "quack". "Mountebank" comes from the Italian montambanco or montimbanco based on the phrase monta in banco - literally referring to the action of a seller of dubious medicines getting up on a bench to address his audience of potential customers.[2]
"Quack" is a reference to "quackery" or the practice of dubious medicine.

Famous charlatans

Famous American charlatans include John R. Brinkley, the "goat-gland doctor" who implanted goat glands as a means of curing male impotence, helped pioneer both American and Mexican radio broadcasting, and twice ran unsuccessfully for governor of Kansas. Another famous charlatan was Albert Abrams, the advocate of radionics and other similar electrical quackery who was active in the early twentieth century.[3]
Another famous charlatan is the Italian Alessandro Cagliostro (real name Giuseppe Balsamo) who claimed to be a Count.

[Jean]

Ma,
When reading your remark about wondering if you need the herceptin or you think you need the herceptin.

Follow your gut - intincts - don't allow the stress of the fight (shame you have to fight) get you down. Remember your dr. thinks you should remain on the herceptin.

Sending you all good wishes.
Jean

[Mary Anne in TX]

The fight is so much easier with the humor added in. And Jean, your message that I just read, came at the perfect time. Oh, how our minds fool us into thinking we might as well give in, give out, give up! I really am a big time fighter 90% of the time. Done it all my life! But I let my plate get too full and my energy too low and my "fight" paid the price! Thank you for the reminder of my reality! I'll keep fighting! And believing! Lots of love to all for a wonderful day, ma

[Chelee]

Mary Anne, I'm stage IIIA, with 5 of 16 positive nodes. I really wanted to continue on herceptin to complete at least two years. My onc was *not* behind me on this issue which ticked me off because my insurance company had no problems paying for it if she would of went the distance for me. Then she left it up to my 2nd opinon onc at a larger cancer center to decide. That one said no too.

I stressed to both onc's I felt for me it was very important since I was stage III with 5 positive node and wasn't able to have radiation due to lung damage it would cause me. So I felt that was a "good" argument for me to continue on herceptin. Plus all my ECHO's had been great. I was shocked getting told no by both onc's. I feel it was all about saving money in my case. JMHO

All that being said I just wanted to tell you give it your ALL Mary Anne. Looking back I wished I would of pushed alot harder then I did. I gave up to easy and I still kick myself over it. If I would of pushed a little harder I know now I could of gotten it. I can totally understand why you want to stay on it and your onc is behind you and that's half the battle. You got alot of good suggestions here and I have a pretty good feeling you will get to continue. Don't let up...I wish I had fought a little harder. I know how draining it can be to fight for everything...but if in your gut you know this is what you want...go after it with everything you have. Wish I did. Let us know when you get the ok. (Thinking positive here.)

Chelee

[Mary Anne in TX]

StephN, your response is exactly what my mom would have sent me. When I was in college, she would send my letters back to be corrected!!!!! I learned so much from her. Her little brains oozed out of her head! That's a goofy way of saying "You're 1 smart, fun to be around, cookie"!!!! Thanks
Chelee, I needed to hear your thoughts and feelings. I so appreciate your honesty. Thank you! ma